State Department Waging “Open War” on White House

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (left) and President Donald J. Trump (right) on February 1, 2017. (Image source: Michael Reynolds-Pool/Getty Images)

 

• “It’s not clear to me why the Secretary of State wishes to at once usurp the powers of the Congress and then to derail his boss’s rapprochement with the Israeli government.” — Foreign policy operative, quoted in the Washington Free Beacon.
• Since he was sworn in as Secretary of State on February 1, Rex Tillerson and his advisors at the State Department have made a number of statements and policy decisions that contradict President Trump’s key campaign promises on foreign policy, especially regarding Israel and Iran.
• “Tillerson was supposed to clean house, but he left half of them in place and he hid the other half in powerful positions all over the building. These are career staffers committed to preventing Trump from reversing what they created.” — Veteran foreign policy analyst, quoted in the Free Beacon.

The U.S. State Department has backed away from a demand that Israel return $75 million in military aid which was allocated to it by the U.S. Congress.

China and Saudi Arabia Strengthening Ties

China and Saudi Arabia Strengthening Ties Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) is welcomed upon arrival in Beijing, China August 29, 2016. – See more at: http://www.trunews.com/article/china-and-saudi-arabia-strengthening-ties#sthash.yC6hcArW.dpuf

 

(BEIJING) – Saudi Arabia signed 15 preliminary agreements with China on Tuesday in sectors from energy to housing on a trip headed by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at bolstering relations with a top energy customer and trade partner.

Russia To Help Iran Reboot Oil Industry

Now that Iran appears on the verge of resuming prodigious oil production, it’s becoming clear that it plans to do so by forming ever-closer ties with Russia, one of six world powers that persuaded it to restrict its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of Western sanctions. Relations with the United States, though, remain strained.

The nuclear deal certainly does not mean that Iran is on good terms with the U.S., recently, Iran imprisoned at least three men with ties to the United States. Its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, while approving the agreement that is expected to lift the sanctions, has stressed that the sanctions agreement doesn’t mean his country is ready to strike any big business deals with American companies, which might open the door to more liberal influences in a religiously conservative state.

Saudi Fears Over Emerging Russia-Iran Energy Nexus

Any weakening of Russian support for Mr. Assad could be one of the first signs that the recent tumult in the oil market is having an impact on global statecraft. Saudi officials have said publicly that the price of oil reflects only global supply and demand, and they have insisted that Saudi Arabia will not let geopolitics drive its economic agenda. But they believe that there could be ancillary diplomatic benefits to the country’s current strategy of allowing oil prices to stay low — including a chance to negotiate an exit for Mr. Assad.

That’s a quote from a New York Times article that ran in February of this year.

At the time, we pointed to the piece as evidence that yet another conspiracy “theory” has become conspiracy “fact” as it effectively served to validate (to the extent The New York Times is validation) the thesis that at the end of the day, this is all about energy.

National Geographic gets paid to promote Chinese culture

China’s State Council Information Office (SCIO) on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the US National Geographic Society (NGS) and venture capital organization International Data Group (IDG) to promote Chinese culture and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

China and 20 other countries sign MOU on regional bank

BEIJING, China, Oct 24 – China and 20 other countries moved forward on Friday towards setting up an Asian infrastructure lender seen as a counterweight to Western-backed international development banks.

The signatories put their names to a memorandum of understanding to establish the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The institution, whose development has been driven by China and which is widely expected to have initial capital of $50 billion, it intended to address the region’s burgeoning demand for transportation, dams, ports and other facilities, officials say.

Official: Iranian Gov’t Mulling Resumption of Direct Flights to US

“This issue is currently under study by the government and the results of their assessments will be announced once their studies are complete,” Jahangirian told reporters on Sunday.

Yet, he said that he cannot give an exact date for declaring the decision of the government.

In November, Jahangirian said everything is ready for the resumption of direct flights between Iran and the US, and that the CAO “is just waiting for the Iranian government’s final approval”.

Cyprus, Israel and Greece sign MoU on energy and water

Meet your new economic foundations of the European Union: Cyprus and Greece. From this point, it seems they are not likely to be kicked out of the union and could become part of the upcoming United States of Europe.

Cyprus, Israel and Greece have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the fields of energy and water.

Speaking after the signing of the MoU, Cyprus Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism Yiorgos Lakkotrypis said “this is a monumental moment for the cooperation among the three countries”.

“The MoU is a framework which will determine the number of activities that the countries have agreed to jointly pursue, such as energy security supply, environmental concerns and a number of other issues which are common for us three”, he added.